Neighbors
by gabester
Summary: Dean moves, Sam is in college nearby, and everything is great; when he arrives, he finds that his house, and his neighbor's house, touch at the edge - Dean finds he doesn't care when he discovers a beautiful blue-eyed man reading at the edge of his window one night; He cares even less when he finds himself falling for him
1. Chapter 1

**Warning: I have no idea where this story is really going to go so rating and genres may change. **

* * *

**Chapter One**

The sleek black car sped down the deserted highway, headlights burning two bright circles of light onto the dark landscape. The windows were rolled down, blasting classic rock through its speakers, echoing into the night.

A single voice sang along to the blaring music, slightly off-key, but not faltering once.

_"Livin' easy, livin' free!"_

The road had been vacant for miles, so Dean took the opportunity to accelerate his beautiful car, wheels spinning furiously and engine roaring, all troubles and cares drifting through the window along with the heavy guitar solos of Angus Young.

_"Season ticket on a one-way ride!"_

Dean couldn't help but smile widely as he belted his way through the lyrics. The reality of his current situation was just beginning to become clear in his mind, so he was relaxing and enjoying the ride, feeling as free as he had ever been before.

He was finally leaving home.

Home. The once happy, heartwarming hearth that was now a sad, empty reminder of his difficult childhood.

And that little white house was currently missing its third member, the fourth a drunk, broken husk of a man, now all alone in the world.

Dean quickly shoved those thoughts all the way to the back of his mind as guilt threatened to trickle into his mind and overcome his good mood. Instead, he ignored his emotions and pushed on through the song, reveling in the beauty that was AC/DC, thoughts soon drifting to his destination.

"_I'm on a highway to Hell!"_

Dean smirked at the irony. If this new place was even _half_ as fantastic as the little house Sam had described excitedly in such intricate detail, he would be on his way to heaven. His brother had aptly mentioned that although it was built very closely to the house adjacent to it, it was in perfect walking distance to both his campus and to the auto garage that had recently put up a "Help Wanted" sign. Dean could easily pick up a job doing what he loves best as well as visit his brother as many times as he wished.

It was almost too good to be true.

Dean arrived by noon the next morning, having to have stayed at a cheap motel late into the night, feeling drowsy in total disregard to the harsh, loud guitars of Metallica. He found that Sam was already there with an unfamiliar man, attempting to get a couch through the front door, and failing miserably.

He rolled to a gradual stop by the curb and parked the car; shutting the door behind him, he quickly rushed up to the porch and lifted up a corner of the couch, angling it until it was finally shoved into the foyer. Setting it down in the living room, Sam turned to give Dean a bright smile, then stumbled over to give his brother a hug.

"I've missed you, man," Sam said warmly, grinning widely and stepping back.

"Same goes to you," Dean replied, patting him affectionately in the arm. He glanced at the other man standing as if he couldn't care less about anything in the world, hands in pocket and slouching slightly, raising his eyebrows in anticipation at Sam. The tall man noticed and quickly looked away, tensing almost imperceptibly before introducing him. "Dean, this is Gabriel, my... good friend from, er, school. He offered to help move you in."

"It's also 'cause my little bro just so happens to live next door," Gabriel piped in, not before glaring slightly at Sam. "He's at work now, but you two muttonheads will inevitably meet sooner or later." He shrugged, reaching into his pocket and revealed a lollipop, swiftly removing the wrapper, popping it into his mouth, and pulling it back out with a loud smack. "He's a little geek tax accountant, not very hard to miss." He winked at Dean, then turned his head to look at Sam provocatively as his shoved the sticky candy back into his smirking mouth.

Dean, noticing every little exchange, narrowed his eyes for a split second, the two men oblivious to his growing suspicion. Realization dawned on his face; smirking, Dean, knowing his little brother would thank him later for relieving them _both_ of an awkward conversation, joked, "Sammy, ain't this guy a little too old for ya?" He was fully aware that Gabriel looked old enough to be out of college, probably even a year or two older than himself. Not that he really minded; if Sam was happy, he was happy.

Sam's face became flushed with color, heat rising to his cheeks and neck prickling with embarrassment. "Ha, ha, very funny, Dean. Gabe and I are just _friends_," he emphasized, nervously licking his lips.

He stumbled as Gabriel threw an arm around him, his size humorously small in comparison to the tall wiry man beside him. Looking directly into Dean's eyes, eyes shining mischievously, he stuck the lollipop into Sam's mouth, who stood there shocked, and said, much to Sam's horror, "Oh, we're friends, alright. _Very_ good friends." He wiggled his eyebrows suggestively at Sam.

As Sam started to choke on the lollipop still sticking precariously out of his mouth, Dean laughed.

He decided he liked Gabriel.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two**

Sam and Gabriel had helped Dean unpack enough things to at least get him settled comfortably into the night, catching up on each other's lives in the process. Although Dean had talked to his brother frequently after he had left for college, the past few months haven't been easy for either of them. They haven't talked to each other often; it was only after what happened in Lawrence did Sam call to let Dean know of the little house for sale near his campus.

Sam met Gabriel at a sweets shop; Sam was still dating Ruby at the time and Gabriel worked there. They had struck up a conversation but didn't become friends until they ran into each other again at the local bookstore in town, finally deciding to exchange cell numbers. Sam had been planning on proposing to Ruby until he found out that she had been cheating on him for months.

Gabriel had found Sam drunk that night at the local bar, The Roadhouse. Dragging the tall man back to his dorm hadn't been easy, but he had taken care of Sam for the following weeks after that. They had only recently gotten together.

Dean decided he liked Gabriel even more after this.

By now it was late, and Dean stood at the door, promising to get together for lunch in a few days as they left, Gabriel smacking Sam's ass on the way out. Chuckling yet slightly skeeved, Dean turned and climbed up the staircase of his new home, wood creaking underneath his feet. He was exhausted; his limbs ached from moving furniture and heavy boxes all day. Moving was tiring as all hell.

Finding his bedroom, he walked into the room only to feel a cold draft billowing inside, skin prickling with goosebumps at the chilly air. Looking around the shadowy moonlit room, he found the window wide open. He shuffled his feet in that direction, and reaching up high to shut it close, he glanced outside as he pushed the frame down. He squinted, trying to see through the darkness, before realizing that all he could see was another house. Sam had been right - the houses _were_ touching, roof to roof. Dean hadn't realized just how _close_ the houses were.

Shrugging, he just started to turn away back toward his bed when a light flashed from outside.

He turned back around and found himself blinking in surprise. He could see _into_ his neighbor's house. Sitting comfortably in an armchair was a thin man with unruly dark hair and thick glasses, currently opening up the pages of a book. The soft orange hue of the nearby lamp caused the man's face to practically glow, head haloed in light.

Dean stood there, staring at the man in front of him, feeling heat rise up to his cheeks when he realized he was practically _creeping on his new neighbor_ before he forced himself to walk away and finish getting ready for bed, stumbling out of the room.

After splashing his face with water a couple of times in the bathroom, he toweled his face, blindly walking back to his bedroom. He felt around the wall for the light switch, flicking it on as he tossed the towel into his laundry basket.

Glancing at the window just in time to see the other man look up - probably due to the sudden light - Dean froze as his neighbor started in obvious surprise, book falling to the floor. The man looked at him bewildered as Dean walked back to his window, staring, his stomach clenching into knots. A moment passed as the man folded up his glasses and put them on the dresser before getting up and walking towards him. Dean quickly shoved his own pane back open.

"Hi there," Dean called as the man pulled up the window and poked his head outside, eyes wide and disheveled hair sticking out at ridiculous angles.

The man squinted at him through the dark, smiling slightly. "Did you just move in?"

Dean returned the smile, genuine and bright. "Yeah, I just arrived this morning. I wanted to be closer to my little brother who's studying to be a lawyer. I'm real proud of him." Dean shifted his body so he was kneeling with his arms propped up comfortably on the ledge, already aching back beginning to hurt from leaning.

His neighbor blinked rapidly a couple of times before his head tilted slightly. "Is your brother's name Sam?"

"Yeah," Dean replied, surprised. "How do you know?"

The man chuckled, moving to support his head with his elbows, chin resting on his arms. "My brother is Gabriel. He had mentioned to me that his boyfriend's brother was going to move in next door. In the rush of work today, I had forgotten."

Dean sat up, Gabriel's words from that afternoon swiftly drifting back into his memory. _Little geek tax accountant_, he had said. Gabriel's description had most certainly _not_ done his brother any justice. The man perched three feet away from him was beautiful. Leaning forward slightly, Dean noticed that his eyes were a gorgeous deep blue, light and full of warmth. He gazed into his eyes for a brief moment before smiling brightly.

"I'm Dean."

"And I'm Castiel. Pleased to meet you."


End file.
